


The Past is the Future

by angelus2hot



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Future, Past, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 06:29:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5406515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelus2hot/pseuds/angelus2hot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a trip to another planet John and Elizabeth find out more about the future and the past than they ever bargained for. But it wasn't nearly enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Past is the Future

**Author's Note:**

> **Title:** The Past is the Future  
>  **Fandom:** Stargate Atlantis  
>  **Characters/Pairing:** John Sheppard/Elizabeth Weir  
>  **Rating:** PG-13  
>  **Word Count:** 4,078  
>  **Summary:** On a trip to another planet John and Elizabeth find out more about the future and the past than they ever bargained for. But it wasn't nearly enough.  
>  **A/N:** written for muses_mistress for [SGA Secret Santa](http://sga-secretsanta.livejournal.com/) at sga_secretsanta

Rodney, with a puppy dog look on his face glanced at Elizabeth as she stood in front of the Stargate ready to leave. “I still don’t understand why I can’t go too.” It wasn’t as if he was particularly interested in what the planet or its people had to offer but he was part of John’s team and as such he should be going along. Besides who wasn’t to say they wouldn’t need his expertise about something. They usually did.

A sigh swept through Elizabeth from head to toe as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She had thought they had already gone through this but apparently Rodney wasn’t going to let it go. "I've explained this to you, Rodney. The inhabitants of Eternia have a strict boy girl policy. That's why John, myself, Teyla and Ronon will be going. Apparently it's couples only." At the doubtful look on Rodney's face she quickly added, "I don't pretend to understand it but it is what it is."

With his hands in his pants pockets Ronon rocked back on his heels and glanced over at Rodney with a sly grin on his face and whispered huskily, "I'm a boy." He knew he shouldn’t but he couldn’t help but tease the man. There was nothing he liked better than to get Rodney’s back up. It wasn’t his fault Rodney was so easy to tease.

_What was he chopped liver?_ “Hardy har, har.” Rodney stared at the big Satedan with his eyes narrowed but before he could say anything John interrupted.

John ignored Ronon’s teasing of Rodney as he raised his eyebrows at the familiar name. _Now he understood why Elizabeth had kept the name of the planet to herself._ “Eternia?” The planet’s name left John’s lips on a snicker. And although he knew he shouldn't John couldn’t help himself. He threw his hand up in the air as he pretended to hold a sword and yelled at the top of his voice, "I have the power!" At the blank look on everyone’s faces, including Elizabeth’s he knew no one had gotten the _He-Man_ reference. He slowly allowed his arm to fall to his side. “It was a Saturday morning cartoon.” The blank looks continued. “Seriously? No one? I mean I understand Ronon and Teyla not getting it but Rodney, Elizabeth? Come on, you guys. It was even made into a movie. Granted a cheesy movie but still.” _Damn, he would have sworn that was the reason Elizabeth had kept the name to herself._

At the look of disappointment on John’s face Elizabeth bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. It wouldn’t do for John to realize she found his antics not only amusing but extremely adorable too. “Be that as it may, John and all jokes aside I don’t need to remind you that these are a very close knit people and they don't usually welcome strangers in their midst very often. It's taken me months of negotiating just to get them to agree to this meeting with us. The last thing I want us to do is insult them about their planet’s name."

_Insult?_ John shook his head and quickly changed the subject. “What’s so important about this planet again?”

“From what we’ve heard through rumors is that this planet has never been culled by the wraith at any point in their history. And apparently they have a continuous power source.”

“A ZPM?” The words came out in a whisper as the tone of Rodney’s voice changed. Now he really wanted to go. After all who better to check out a ZPM than him?

Elizabeth shrugged. “We don’t know for sure yet but I think it behooves us to agree to whatever little idiosyncrasies they might have on the off chance it could be, don’t you?”

Rodney nodded his head. “Yes, yes, yes, yes. However, I feel as I am...”

“Give it up, Rodney.” At the look on Elizabeth’s face John nudged him on the shoulder. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

“Fine.” Rodney didn’t do it gracefully but at least he gave in.

Without another word John and Elizabeth stepped through the event horizon but before Ronon and Teyla could follow the Stargate disengaged leaving Ronon, Teyla and Rodney staring at each other with identical looks of confusion.

“What the hell just happened?”

Chuck glanced down at Rodney as his fingers pressed against the dials. “I haven’t got a clue. The gate just shut itself off.”

“Dial it back!” Rodney yelled, his eyes bright with panic.

“I’m trying but the gate can’t get a lock.” Chuck continually pressed the keys but nothing happened.

“Looks like you could be in charge for awhile.” 

Rodney shot Ronon a look. It wasn’t as if he could deny he had always wanted to run Atlantis. He had but not like this, not at the expense of John and Elizabeth.

At the worried look in Rodney’s eyes Ronon clamped his hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure this out.”

 

 

As they stepped through the gate John and Elizabeth glanced behind them fully expecting to see Ronon and Teyla but all that was behind them was a lot of mountainous land as far as the eye could see. 

“What the....?” Elizabeth grabbed John’s arm in warning.

“Welcome to Eternia.” A robed figure came out of the crowd gathered around the Stargate to greet them. He pushed the hood from his head as he came to a stop directly in front of them. “I am Pholenius.”

“I am Doctor Elizabeth Weir.” She motioned to John. “And this is Colonel John Sheppard.” Before she went any further with the niceties she had to know, “We had two other members of our team with...”

The tall man with long dark hair and bright blue eyes nodded his head as he waved his hands dismissively. “Yes, they however weren’t really a couple. They didn’t even possess the potential to be one.”

“Huh, what?” Confusion spread across John’s face. The last time he had looked Teyla was definitely a female and no one could deny Ronon was all male at least not without getting a punch in the face.

“We thought we had made ourselves abundantly clear.” His tone was harsh with barely controlled anger. “Only couples are allowed on Eternia. But you tried to bring with you those who were clearly not a couple.” A small, tight smile graced his face as he followed John’s pointed look at the group of children playing in the nearby field. “Ah, I see. You think you have found a flaw in our way of life but let me be the first to assure you that everyone on this planet is either part of a couple or have the potential to be one.”

Before the hostilities she felt between this man and John could go any further Elizabeth stepped forward. “We are sorry. We meant no insult to your people but we didn’t realize they actually had to be together to be allowed on the planet. And in the interest of full disclosure you should no that John and I are not...”

Peals of laughter echoed through the crowd.

“What’s so funny?” John could feel himself growing angrier by the minute.

“You only hide the truth from yourselves.” He smirked at John. “Even now anger floods your being at what you think is your Elizabeth being laughed at.”

“She’s not my Elizabeth.” Even as the words left his mouth John couldn’t keep the small kernel of possessiveness that lived deep within him from flaring to life. _What he wouldn’t give for Elizabeth to be his._

“Believe what you must but the Circle doesn’t lie.”

Elizabeth’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “Excuse me?”

“If you had not been a couple you too would not have come through the Circle.” Pholenius made a helpless gesture almost as if he was at a loss on how to make them understand finally he squared his shoulders. “If you will come with me I will try to explain.” He motioned for them to begin walking. “The Great Circle has stood before us for more cycles then any of us have been alive. It will continue to stand long after our bodies have rejoined the soil.” Pholenius stopped in front of what looked like a two-story house, complete with a white picket fence. “This is our meeting place. You are welcome to enter.”

With a murmured thank you Elizabeth and John followed him inside.

Pholenius waited patiently for his guests to take a seat before he continued speaking. “Only a couple can come through the Great Circle. It has been that way since before I was born.”

“What happens to people who aren’t a couple that try to come through the Starg...” John cleared his throat. “I mean the Great Circle?”

“The Circle simply shuts itself off effectively stopping all the undesirables from entering the planet.” At the look on their faces he quickly amended, “No harm has come to your friends. They are simply where you left them.”

At Pholenius’ words a feeling of relief swept through her. “I...”

A dark head poked through the doorway. “Pardon the interruption, Pholenius but you must come quickly Atlia is at it again.” 

Pholenuis sighed heavily as he rolled his eyes before he quickly stood. “If you will excuse me.” Without another word he turned and walked out the door.

“What do you think that was about?”

Elizabeth shrugged. “I don’t have a clu... John! What are you doing?”

He jumped and hissed through his teeth as he made his way over to the window. “Shh!” John turned his head back toward the outside.

A little girl no more than five years old had a boy a year or so older than she was face down in the dirt while she sat on his back fighting back tears.

“Atlia.” His voice was soft yet commanding as he motioned her towards him with a crook of his finger. Pholenius tried not to laugh as the little boy took off running the second she stood up. “What’s this about?” He asked as soon as she stood in front of him.

Fat tears trailed down her cheeks as she stared up at him. “Baccas said a mean thing.”

“Ah. So you felt it prudent to sit on him?” 

Her lip trembled as she hiccuped. “He said... he said I was ugly.”

There was no denying the little thing was quite the mess with her hair sticking out every which way from her pigtails and her face covered with dirt. Pholenius kneeled on the ground before her and reached out to wipe the tears from her dirt-smudged face while murmuring comforting words. As soon as he was finished cleaning her up, he brushed the loose tendrils of hair from her eyes. “Do you think you’re ugly?”

She slowly shook her head and whispered, “I’m beautiful.” Atlia then nodded her head for emphasis as she gave him a gapped tooth smile.

“That’s right, you are.” He touched her nose with the tip of his finger. “You should forgive Baccas, he doesn’t realize it yet but he will. Besides, it doesn’t matter what others think of us only what we think of ourselves, Isn’t that right?”

Once more the little girl nodded her head so fast her pigtails swung around her head at an alarming rate. “Yes”

“Good. Now that that’s settled run along and play and could you try not to sit on Baccas anymore today?”

“Okay.” Without another word the little girl gave him a quick hug before she turned and ran off in the direction the little boy had taken.

Pholenius had a smile on his face as made his way back inside where the strangers were. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting. “At the look on their faces he paused. “What?”

“We heard what was happening and we were...”

But John was in no mood to sugar coat it. “Are those kids a couple?”

Laughter filled the room. “When they get old enough they will be. But right now they are simply children playing.” Pholenius stood still in the middle of the room as if he were debating something. It didn’t take long for him to make up his mind. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”

They gave each other a look before they followed him as he walked out of the room.

 

Pholenius stepped into the room and motioned for them to enter. “This is our _Hall of Records._ All of Eternia is in this room but only a select few know about it and only certain ones are able to access this place.” At the look on Elizabeth’s face he continued, “If you had walked in without me you would have seen the room filled with things you have no interest in but since I’m with you, you were allowed to see the truth.”

Elizabeth and John couldn't stop staring. The room was unlike anything they had ever seen. Life sized moving images covered the walls from floor to ceiling showing all manner of life on Eternia, births, deaths and everything in between.

"Is that..." Elizabeth pointed to the other side of the wall.

"Yes, that will be Atlia."

John's mind was blown. "But, she's all grown up."

He couldn't stop the grin from spreading on his face. "Yes, John, she is."

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Her words were barely over a whisper as she watched Atlia chase after a little dark head girl who was the spitting image of Baccas. Elizabeth spun around to face him. “This room predicts the future?” 

“No. It’s a little more complicated than that.” He pushed his hair out of his eyes as he pointed behind John. “You see, it doesn’t predict the future, it is the future.”

She meant to look at what Pholenius was pointing at she really had but scenes on the other side of the wall caught her attention. “Oh my G....” 

“What’s wrong?” Concern laced John’s voice as he reached for Elizabeth.

“John, look.” She was unable to see his reaction to the scene before them because she couldn’t tear her gaze away. She didn’t know whether to be thankful they weren’t naked or disappointed. 

John did as she bid and immediately froze. He knew he shouldn’t stare but he couldn’t make himself look away. Especially not now, not when his wildest fantasies and his most secret treasured wish were being played out for his delectation. Elizabeth was in his arms, her fingers buried in his hair as his hands roamed her body and his mouth captured her moans of pure lust. 

Out of the corner of his eyes he watched as Elizabeth’s skin flushed a deep red and her breath became ragged as she too stared at the images before them.

John couldn’t decide whether to be thrilled at what was transpiring or if he should stop looking all together. Finally it dawned on him. “How can this be happening? We’re not from Eternia and we’re not...”

“No, you’re not from Eternia but you are of Eternia.”

“Come again?”

Elizabeth swallowed a hard lump that had formed in her throat as she watched herself come apart at the seams by John’s hands. _What she wouldn’t give..._ She quickly shook her head to dispel that thought. It took every ounce of self-control she possessed not to fan herself.

Pholenius shot Elizabeth a knowing look before he turned to John. “From the day we opened negotiations scenes of your lives have played across these walls. Granted they were not as clear as they are now but still we thought it prudent to find out why your story was here at all.”

“And?”

Before Pholenius could say anything Elizabeth interrupted as a thought came to her. “So, this whole thing was just a ruse to get us here?”

“No. We have every intention of honoring any deal we might strike between our two peoples but you can’t tell me you don’t want to know why your story is on the Hall of Records... Can you?”

She would like nothing better than to say that very thing but the truth was Elizabeth wanted, no she needed to find out if what they were seeing would in fact come true.

As the silence stretched further a smile graced Pholenius’ face. “I thought as much.”

“Okay. So what do we do now?” John glared at their companion. He really didn’t like the way Pholenius kept staring at Elizabeth.

Pholenius stepped closer to John and leaned in to whisper in his ear, “Be relaxed, John. You have nothing to fear from me.” He moved forward towards the podium in the center of the room. “If you will hold hands and place your free hand on either side.” He nodded his head as they complied. “Yes, just like that. Now let us see what the...”

They both jumped when Pholenius snarled a word in Eternian that needed no translation and quickly swatted their hands away from the podium.

“What is it?” John and Elizabeth spoke in unison as Pholenius’ words trailed off as he stared at the wall in utter shock.

“This isn’t just your future, it’s also part of our past.”

John blinked as he repeated his words from earlier. “Come again?” If he and Elizabeth had made love John was positive he would have remembered it.

“What we see here has already happened before but has yet to happen now.” 

“I’m afraid you’ve still lost us.” John wished the man would speak plain English.

“Your wish is my command, John.” Pholenius took a deep breath. “In less than six months time your Elizabeth will be taken by a race called the Replicators. Everyone will give up on her as lost except for you, John. You will hunt the galaxy over risking everything to find her. But when you do she won’t be exactly as she is now and you won’t risk bringing her back to your Atlantis so you will bring her here to our people. We have a way to remove all...” He paused as if trying to consider how much to tell them before he took a deep breath and continued, “While here you will give in to your feelings and finally admit your great love for each other.”

John and Elizabeth both tried to make noises of disagreement but they were half hearted at best. 

“It still doesn’t explain how we are of Eternia.” At the look on Pholenius’ face John quickly added, “Or does it?”

“I can not give you any more answers. All of it will become clear as time unfolds.”

“You can’t stop now. We need to understand what’s going on. Why can’t you tell us anything more?” 

Pholenius bowed his head. He knew he shouldn’t say anything else but... After another deep breath he raised his head. “I will tell you this. Your time on Eternia will produce a child and your son will be the greatest most beloved ruler Eternia has ever known. Do not bother to ask me anything else. I will not risk saying anything more.”

No matter how many questions they asked of him, Pholenius clamped his lips shut and refused to say another word.

“Okay, can you at least answer this question? Now that we know when all this is supposed to happen and how much is riding on it, what is going to stop us from messing this up?” John figured with the way things tended to go wrong around them it was a pretty fair question.

“There is nothing for either of you to worry about. Once you step through the Great Circle and are back onto your Atlantis you will not remember this portion of your visit to Eternia. The only knowledge you will retain of your trip to our world is that we are a close knit people who don’t care for outsiders, we don’t have anything to trade and prefer to be left alone. You will not feel the need to contact us again until you have need of us. “If you will follow me.” Pholenius didn’t wait to see if they were behind him as he walked towards the door. 

“What about trading? You know the reason we came to this planet to begin with.”

Pholenius shook his head. “There’s nothing you can offer us at the moment that we need nor do we have anything for you either.” 

John opened his mouth to speak but Pholenius quickly cut in. “If you would like to have a little bit of time to explore our home before you leave please feel free.”

The next couple of hours were spent walking through the town and meeting the inhabitants. There was so much to see they could have stayed for days and still not have seen everything but all too soon it was time to go.

John stood in front of the Stargate and waited for Elizabeth to join him. “I’m having a bit of a problem.” He began talking the second she stood beside him.

“Oh, with what?”

“Well, there’s the part about how this is their past and our future. How is that supposed to work?”

Elizabeth shrugged. She didn’t have any more clues than John. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s a different universe, or timeline.” 

John rubbed his forehead all of this past, present, future stuff was giving him a headache. “Okay then let’s worry about how are we supposed to end up together if we haven’t even kissed yet?”

Elizabeth’s mouth went dry at his words. _John wanted to kiss her?_ “I... I...” She quickly cleared her throat and tried again. “You ask a valid question, John.”

“What are we going to do about it?” The words came out in a husky whisper as John snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her close. 

“John.” His name was a breathless moan on her lips.

“It’s okay, Elizabeth. In less than six months time you will be mine but I can’t wait that long to taste you. I have to kiss your sweet mouth just once before I forget all of this.” John didn’t give her a chance to respond but quickly lowered his head until his lips met hers in a passionate kiss.

Something flared between them, it wasn’t just passion or lust but something deeper, something far more meaningful. It was as if they had always been together. A deep low moan escaped him as he left her lips to trail hot kisses down the side of her neck. _How come when he kissed her it felt like coming home?_

As John’s lips scorched a trail of kisses along her skin Elizabeth tangled her fingers in his hair urging him on. 

The sound of a voice being cleared loudly caused them to jump apart guiltily. 

Pholenius couldn’t keep the grin off of his face nor the laughter out of his voice as he stared at the would be couple. “You might want to leave now before you embarrass us all.” He teased and watched gleefully as Elizabeth’s face began to redden. He was still laughing as they stepped into the Great Circle and disappeared.

 

 

“John, Elizabeth?” Rodney looked around in confusion. “Are you okay? Why are you back so soon? We had just begun to talk rescue strategy when...” He glanced down at his watch. “You’ve only been gone less than an hour. What happened?”

“It was a complete waste of time. They didn’t have anything to trade and I got the feeling even if they had the inhabitants wouldn’t have been interested. They’re not overly fond of strangers.” Elizabeth glanced over at John, his hair was messier than usual and it took all of her willpower not to reach out and caress the silken strands with her fingers. A low sigh escaped her as she squared her shoulders and began to walk past Rodney. “I’m going to get started on the paperwork. Next time I want to go on a mission someone please remind me of this moment.”

John stood in front of the gate and watched as Elizabeth climbed the stairs to her office. For some reason he couldn’t quite fathom the words _Just six more months_ were echoing through his mind over and over again. With a light spring in his step John turned and headed to his quarters.


End file.
